In June, Romney expressed his support for SB 5, a law pushed through by Ohio’s Republican legislature and Gov. John Kasich that curtails workers’ bargaining rights. (Among other things, the law bans public-employee unions from bargaining over health insurance and makes public-employee striking illegal). Romney wrote on Facebook on June 18: “My friends in Ohio are fighting to defend crucial reforms that the state has put in place to limit the power of union bosses and keep taxes low. I stand with John R. Kasich and Ohio’s leaders as they take on this important fight to get control of government spending.”

Then yesterday, when visiting an Ohio phone bank in support of SB 5, which Ohio voters have a chance to repeal in a November referendum, Romney refused to take a position, saying he was “not terribly familiar” with the ballot initiatives.